A mostly Republican group of House lawmakers is putting fresh pressure on President Obama to greenlight the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline, and a senior member said that another Capitol Hill hearing could be in the offing.

"In light of the recent events in North Africa, we need to be investing in energy infrastructure to control our own resources. We need to be able to move resources, not only from Canada, but from the many domestic shale plays that have recently come on line. We need to make our country energy independent," states a new pro-Keystone letter to Obama from 146 House members, including 14 Democrats.

The letter, an apparent reference to recent militants' attacks on energy infrastructure in Algeria, follows a pro-Keystone letter from more than half the Senate to Obama last week.